Go Cay Me site is at Phuoc Hiep village, Tan Hoa commune, Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province in geographic coordinate between 10 o 30’784 Northern natitude and 107 o 03’657 Eastern natitude with square 100m 2 . It is 2m higher than around area and belong to system of coastal salt - marsh hillocks as: Go Ca Soi, Go Cay Me, (Phuoc Hoa commune), Go Cay Chom, Go Quat Trong, Go Quat Ngoai, Go Bay Mo…
Go Cay Me site is at Phuoc Hiep village, Tan Hoa commune, Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province in geographic coordinate between 10o 30’784 Northern natitude and 107o 03’657 Eastern natitude with square 100m2. It is 2m higher than around area and belong to system of coastal salt - marsh hillocks as: Go Ca Soi, Go Cay Me, (Phuoc Hoa commune), Go Cay Chom, Go Quat Trong, Go Quat Ngoai, Go Bay Mo…
I. Introduction
Go Cay Me site was discovered on August 2002 by archaeologists of National Museum of Vietnamese History and Museum of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Throgh stratigraphic remains and artifacts, excavators found a lot of characteristics which are resemble to other site as: Go Ca Soi, Rach Nui (Long An province). Moreover, excavators also found this is an important site for studying the prehistoric - proto period of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province as well as Southeastern area. So, Go Cay Me site was excavated from 13 July to 7 August 2004 by coordination of National Museum of Vietnamese History and Museum of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.
II. Excavated Result
1. Stratigraphy
An excavated hole was recovered with square 165m2 (measuring:15m x 11m) in direction Norwest - Southeast and took all of centre area of this hillock. This is a thick stratigraphic site which included the cultural layers as:
- Upper Layer: was the dark and light brown earth
- Middle Layer: was the brown, hard earth
- Lower Layer: was grey, soft earth
- Former Layer: was marginal soft clay with artifacts as: ashes, potsherds, animal bones were intermixed.
Sadiments of slat alum and molluse shells intemixed with these earth layers showed this site was eroded strongly by sea water.
Particularly, the hard brown earth layer of Go Cay Me site is similared to sites of Go Ca Soi, An Son, Loc Giang, Rach Nui. So it is possible foundation or proof of stile house of residents in the salt-marsh area. It is also the lifestyle of the local residents who often dealed with erosion by sea water.
Apart from remains of ashes, animal bones, molluse shells, there are also stone and bone artifacts, potteries, potsherds were found in this stratigraphy. Particularly, these potteries were unique characteristic (meaning the later poterries were keft characteristic from earlier ones)
2. Artifact
2.1. Stone object: collected 178 specimens in which tool are in majority as: axe, chisel, polishingstone (make sharp tool), unfinished tool, chopper, pebble, material stone. The axes include types as: square axe, shouldered axe in which the shouldered axes are in majority (more than 60%) with its characteristics resemble the other ones which were excavated at the Southeastern sites (An Son, Loc Giang, Rach Nui…) such as: trapezium, small hilted part, large blade, chopping traces on body.
2.2. Bone object: collected 27 specimens with types as: spearhead, pointed (1 or 2 heads), unfinished axe, bone with producted traces. There are also a huge amount of animal bones and teet, molluse shells which are not only an impotant document for studying and comparing with the other sites but also for studying environment, lifestyle of ancient local residents.
2.3. Pottery: collected 7 specimens and 130,000 potsherds
Type: cooking pot, spherical storage jar, fruit-tray, bowl with convex bottom, cup, pellet, braize in which the cooking pot, spherical storage jar are characteristic of Go Cay Me site.
Material: soft and fine pottery
The soft potteries are brown and light yellow colour with its core-wall is black, soft by mixed with flora wastes, molluse shell powder. This type take 97% total of potsherds
The fine potteries are hard with dark brown or brown colours, its core-wall is mixed with fine sands.
Pattern: On the soft potteries, the cord-marked pattern is in the majority. Beside, there are also wave, incised, relief patterns on some other potsherds while on the fine potteries, brush pattern is in the majority and incised, wave patterns are also decorated on some other ones.
III. Comment
1. Site: Go Cay Me site is a residental site in the coastal salt-marsh with uninterupted and long development process which was showed through the uninterupted thick stratigraphy anf a huge amount of artifacts. Beside, this is a pottery producted centre in the prehistoric period by a huge amount of potteries with simple type and even unfinished potteries, molluse shell powder (one of materials used to make pottery) were found. Moreover, available material resouse is the fine clay which is good for producting pottery.
2. Date: the ashed samples in the deepnest layer of stratigraphy were analysed by carbonactivation in order to define absolutely date of this site with its result: one ashed sample was dated 3350 + 75 years before present and the other one was dated 2920 + 75 years before present. Through studying the relic, artifacts, analysed result, archaeologists defined the Go Cay Me site was dated circa 3,000 - 3,500 years before present and belong to the Early Metal Age.
3. Cultural relation: Comparing the Go Cay Me site with the others which are same time and region (Rach Nui, Go Ca Soi, Go Cay Me (Tan Hoa commune)…) showed a lot of resembles characteristics of these sites such as: relic, artifact (especially pottery), environment. Through above results, archaeologists gave their opinion: it should be foundated as a seperated archaeological culture with sites which are the resemble cultural characteristic, date, environment and its name will be: “Rach Nui culture” which was given in 1978 by a died archaeologist Pham Van Kinh who used to work in National Museum of Vietnamese History .